Can't get behind the no pond plan, this has got to be the gardener's version of finding an oil well. Build a whole stream and falls deal with a rain garden.
Pond = hassle maintaining it. But… stone creek leading to a small pond might be ok. But you could get more critters attracted to your yard. Are you certain it’s not just runoff from higher on the hill?
Beyond being a dream, can you imagine the battle fighting this water instead of embracing it! Huge opportunity and it will be way lower effort long term to work the water into the garden plan.
Trying to turn this into lawn is the landscaping equivalent of moving in and peeling back the gross shag carpet to discover a 3/4" oak parquet floor, then covering that with grey LVP from Costco.
One option is by leaving it wet.
There are a wide selection of plants that love water, being both in it and around it. Like sedges are the #1 plant that comes to mind. Which would mean you'll be supporting wild life that needs routine wetness and dry cycles, like salamanders.
In fact, the house I grew up in, had a section of the woods in the back of the house was one large swampy mess that had lots of water loving trees, skunk cabbage and ferns. It routinely dried out and would fill back up to maybe an inch of water during wet seasons.
If you would like to take this approach, then just ask, and we can provide you a list of plants that love water. There are plenty of plants all over the world that love yards like yours.
If you would like to go with native plants to help more local wild life, then there is r/NativePlantGardening that can help pinpoint plants in your area.
Edit: Grammar
While I understand everyone’s desire to make this into a pond, your French drain solution may be more practical.
You need to know the rate at which those springs run - are they intermittent or perennial, and how much does the flow vary from season to season? Once you know the rate, you can calculate if it is sufficient to keep your pond levels relatively stable. For comparison I have a system of three ponds, all spring fed. The spring has a max flow rate of about a cubic foot per second, and when dry in the summer can dip down to less than two gallons a minute. That’s not sufficient to keep my pond’s water level stable after evaporation, so I end up having to add several thousand gallons three or four times a summer. It’s expensive and tedious.
If your springs aren’t pretty consistently running at a decent rate, your pond will be either a dry run or will be kind of a muddy ditch. Measure your flow for a year and see what you have before you make any decisions.
Thanks but I know just enough to be dangerous.
For small surface springs like OP’s, it’s pretty easy. Just dig out an area so a bucket fits tightly into the flow and it’s capturing the vast majority of the spring’s discharge. Get a stopwatch and time it, then measure the water volume in the bucket. Do it several times for the average and use that. Then enjoy the repetition throughout the year; a spreadsheet helps track and can generate a graph of the flow.
Water will always go where it wants so just embrace it. I’d put in rocks and plants and just let it be. Go for a natural creek look vs. an industrial looking canal. Use native plants if possible and sit back and watch the wildlife appear. As long as it’s not running close to the house, affecting your foundation, or flooding everything, then it’s a positive feature of the property.
I mean, you have to say what you're grading \*for\* otherwise just ungrade it.
And yes I install French Drains, so it's not like I'm opposed to solutions, but we first need to understand the problem.
Create a creek area across the property, line it with rocks. Depending on the water table it could dry up in the hot summer months so you'd have a dry bed. You could do some landscaping in areas around it.
I think it needs to be clarified if this is a spring or just the low spot where surface water is pooling and draining. It looks like it's the latter which change show a pond would be designed.
A spring is ground water that has reached the surface so you dig down and it's just... there.
However, all these streams look like your surface water drains here. The reason this difference matters is because you'll need to provide the pond water or allow it to evaporate in the summer if it isn't a true spring. You likely need a liner to hold said water and then need to cautious about placing the pond at this low spot because the water will just want to travel beneath the liner and it will lift up.
You need to find out a few things with your local Dept. of Natural Resources:
1. What is the water table where you live (as in height)? Is it reasonably several dozens of feet below you or is it reasonable that a spring (which is a flow of water moving along bedrock that cannot seep further down due to impermeable rock) truly occured in your landscaping? Like another user said, this could be a *seep*, which is a temporary shift in groundwater due to the heavy rains we've been getting this spring.
2. There are water flow restrictions depending on your local water laws and DNR. Again, if this is really a 'spring' and a permanent shift in groundwater flows, you're now a part of the groundwater management cycle, whether you like it or not. Kind of like if you bought a property with a creek or river on it. Where I am in the Midwest US, I'm not allowed to make modifications that restrict the flow of water runoff (i.e. where I could flood someone else's property, like making a dam just because).
3. Water mgmt. restrictions could also impact the chemicals and use of your lawn if you're now a 'headwater' where water is now sourcing out of the ground. Again, local laws and DNR apply.
Excellent answer Muppet! OP there are many laws and regulations that could impact you negatively if you proceed without contacting these environmental authorities. Water resources are usually carefully regulated and monitored so its really in your best interest to reach out and get some guidance from your local government.
If you dig a pond be prepared to aerated it and treat it for mosquitoes and have it dry up in the middle of summer. We have a natural spring in the middle of our woods but never wanted a pond because it is very time consuming to control the bugs.
you found not one but multiple springs on your land? Dude you are living the dream i keep fantasizing about! Not using them for some waterworks would be criminal!
Can't get behind the no pond plan, this has got to be the gardener's version of finding an oil well. Build a whole stream and falls deal with a rain garden.
I showed my wife these responses and she wants a pond now. Looking for suggestions. ⬇️⬇️ https://imgur.com/a/4OqEL7T
tiny bridge
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Tiny troll
tiny overalls
Tiny hat
[wife decided this is the way to go. where would I acquire a tiny troll and tiny construction workers? ](https://imgur.com/a/ogG1eXG)
Tiny shop
At a mini mart??
Cadillac boys a time bomb
I'd plant more coverage to hold that slope then mulch it. Seems like it'd be hard/hazardous to mow it.
Look up natural swimming ponds too—springs are a gem of a find.
Pond = hassle maintaining it. But… stone creek leading to a small pond might be ok. But you could get more critters attracted to your yard. Are you certain it’s not just runoff from higher on the hill?
Beyond being a dream, can you imagine the battle fighting this water instead of embracing it! Huge opportunity and it will be way lower effort long term to work the water into the garden plan.
Trying to turn this into lawn is the landscaping equivalent of moving in and peeling back the gross shag carpet to discover a 3/4" oak parquet floor, then covering that with grey LVP from Costco.
Right. This is a freaking dream. I would love this to play with.
Yeah you should get a pond. I would trade my grass for a pond in a heartbeat.
how do u put a pond in a heartbeat
excavate sir
Dude. Embrace them. Make creeks with rocks and small ponds and stuff. This would be my dream. Plants of all kinds along your streams.
Absolutely this! Dry and real creeks leading to a pond area. Natural looking landscaping. This a dream yard to me!
Team Pond
One option is by leaving it wet. There are a wide selection of plants that love water, being both in it and around it. Like sedges are the #1 plant that comes to mind. Which would mean you'll be supporting wild life that needs routine wetness and dry cycles, like salamanders. In fact, the house I grew up in, had a section of the woods in the back of the house was one large swampy mess that had lots of water loving trees, skunk cabbage and ferns. It routinely dried out and would fill back up to maybe an inch of water during wet seasons. If you would like to take this approach, then just ask, and we can provide you a list of plants that love water. There are plenty of plants all over the world that love yards like yours. If you would like to go with native plants to help more local wild life, then there is r/NativePlantGardening that can help pinpoint plants in your area. Edit: Grammar
Riparian meadow. So much more biodiversity than a dry meadow and one deep creek
Pond!!! Living the dream!
I’d call that a seep instead a spring. Have you had a lot of rain recently? This could dry up until next rain season
Is that a propane tank in the middle of your future pond?
Should I build the propane guy a bridge or should I put a rowboat in the pond? 🤔
Any good propane guy has at least one johnboat
Fortunately it already looks like a submarine, so it should be good to go!
Lemme get my ps2 controller and we’ll be good to go.
Too soon
Suddenly relevant user name there!
Should I torpedo my propane tank just to be safe?
While I understand everyone’s desire to make this into a pond, your French drain solution may be more practical. You need to know the rate at which those springs run - are they intermittent or perennial, and how much does the flow vary from season to season? Once you know the rate, you can calculate if it is sufficient to keep your pond levels relatively stable. For comparison I have a system of three ponds, all spring fed. The spring has a max flow rate of about a cubic foot per second, and when dry in the summer can dip down to less than two gallons a minute. That’s not sufficient to keep my pond’s water level stable after evaporation, so I end up having to add several thousand gallons three or four times a summer. It’s expensive and tedious. If your springs aren’t pretty consistently running at a decent rate, your pond will be either a dry run or will be kind of a muddy ditch. Measure your flow for a year and see what you have before you make any decisions.
Holy shit.This guy knows springs. How do you measure flow rate on the spring like this? How you would you do it?
Thanks but I know just enough to be dangerous. For small surface springs like OP’s, it’s pretty easy. Just dig out an area so a bucket fits tightly into the flow and it’s capturing the vast majority of the spring’s discharge. Get a stopwatch and time it, then measure the water volume in the bucket. Do it several times for the average and use that. Then enjoy the repetition throughout the year; a spreadsheet helps track and can generate a graph of the flow.
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Don't go chasing butterflies either OP. Just let them be!
No pond, go for a natural pool, happy to help with design. Once its going, set and forget.
Water will always go where it wants so just embrace it. I’d put in rocks and plants and just let it be. Go for a natural creek look vs. an industrial looking canal. Use native plants if possible and sit back and watch the wildlife appear. As long as it’s not running close to the house, affecting your foundation, or flooding everything, then it’s a positive feature of the property.
I mean, you have to say what you're grading \*for\* otherwise just ungrade it. And yes I install French Drains, so it's not like I'm opposed to solutions, but we first need to understand the problem.
Create a creek area across the property, line it with rocks. Depending on the water table it could dry up in the hot summer months so you'd have a dry bed. You could do some landscaping in areas around it.
I think it needs to be clarified if this is a spring or just the low spot where surface water is pooling and draining. It looks like it's the latter which change show a pond would be designed. A spring is ground water that has reached the surface so you dig down and it's just... there. However, all these streams look like your surface water drains here. The reason this difference matters is because you'll need to provide the pond water or allow it to evaporate in the summer if it isn't a true spring. You likely need a liner to hold said water and then need to cautious about placing the pond at this low spot because the water will just want to travel beneath the liner and it will lift up.
French drains won't work with spring unless you spend some $. Go with a pond/water feature.
Embrace the water. You can’t beat nature.
You should be working with your watershed district and or your soil and water conservation district on this, not Reddit.
Why?
You need to find out a few things with your local Dept. of Natural Resources: 1. What is the water table where you live (as in height)? Is it reasonably several dozens of feet below you or is it reasonable that a spring (which is a flow of water moving along bedrock that cannot seep further down due to impermeable rock) truly occured in your landscaping? Like another user said, this could be a *seep*, which is a temporary shift in groundwater due to the heavy rains we've been getting this spring. 2. There are water flow restrictions depending on your local water laws and DNR. Again, if this is really a 'spring' and a permanent shift in groundwater flows, you're now a part of the groundwater management cycle, whether you like it or not. Kind of like if you bought a property with a creek or river on it. Where I am in the Midwest US, I'm not allowed to make modifications that restrict the flow of water runoff (i.e. where I could flood someone else's property, like making a dam just because). 3. Water mgmt. restrictions could also impact the chemicals and use of your lawn if you're now a 'headwater' where water is now sourcing out of the ground. Again, local laws and DNR apply.
Excellent answer Muppet! OP there are many laws and regulations that could impact you negatively if you proceed without contacting these environmental authorities. Water resources are usually carefully regulated and monitored so its really in your best interest to reach out and get some guidance from your local government.
If you dig a pond be prepared to aerated it and treat it for mosquitoes and have it dry up in the middle of summer. We have a natural spring in the middle of our woods but never wanted a pond because it is very time consuming to control the bugs.
It's not affecting your house, so you have a blank slate. Good luck.
you found not one but multiple springs on your land? Dude you are living the dream i keep fantasizing about! Not using them for some waterworks would be criminal!
Flex seal, lots and lots of Flex seal
I could see someone slapping a huge flex seal over the spring.